A Day with the Birds in Southern Arizona 



By STEPHEN SARGENT VISHER, Carneeie Desert Laboratory. Tucson. Ariz. 



T 



HE morning of June 15, 



I 

 was awakened, before dawn, 

 by the increased volume of 

 sound caused by several birds singing 

 in unison, perhaps a Mockingbird, a 

 Cassin's Kingbird and a Hooded 

 Oriole, for they were the first that 

 I recognized. Soon the drowsy put- 

 tering of Vermilion Flycatchers, the 

 spirited whistle of clumsy Pyrrhu- 

 loxias, the warbling of the House 

 Finches, and, in the notes so famihar, 

 the Red-winged Blackbirds from near 

 their nests in the trees by the ditch 

 (in lieu of rushes, they have here 

 become tree-inhabitants), were rec- 

 ognized. From the distance, the rest- 

 ful 'purring' call of the Gambel's 

 Quail, and the sharp, though very 

 musical whit of the Palmer's Thrasher, 

 completed the melody. 



The peculiar 'bubbhng' call, which 

 is substituted by the Texas Nighthawk 

 for the peent and boom of the 

 eastern bird, sounded as from afar — 

 it was so faint, — but, in fact, the 

 authors were flying within a few feet 

 of me, as I lay on my cot on the flat roof of the adobe house. 



A call from the cactus-covered slopes behind was the gentle, rapid cooing 

 of the Pygmy Owl. Even while listening to this, a large one, perhaps a Short-eared, 

 flapped softly past, almost close enough to fan my cheek. 



As the spreading light grew brighter, the conviction that my work could be 

 neglected for the day grew stronger, and, as the sun rose, bordered by a strange 

 green light (one of the wonders of the desert), I arose and girded up my loins. 



The long ride across the broad valley to the mouth of Pima Caiion in the 

 Catalina mountains was full of interest. All desert life takes advantage of the 

 cool of the morning, and is out where it can be seen. Gophers and ground squir- 

 rels of several varieties were about, and watching for them were the slim coyote, 

 of which I had a glimpse as I topped a low hill, and the sailing Red-tailed and 

 Swainson's Hawks, and from the top of giant cacti the ubiquitous Sparrow 



(186) 



CACTUS WREX AND COXTAIxXING 



FOUR YOUNG 



Photographed by W. W. .\rnold, at Tucson, 



Ariz., Feb. g, igop 



